The Nation: The women in the Legend

Women were second only to planes in Hughes' affections and, until the
last years of his life, he changed them as frequently. He took an
engineer's interest in their anatomy, handled them with dexterity but
not much warmth. The affair could come to a smooth ending or a crash
landing. However Hughes made his exit, his womenout of either
gratitude or fearrarely said a word about him. They were all part of
the legend, and part of the reason that America was fascinated with
him.

Hughes married twice. In 1925, at 19, he wed Ella Rice, a comely
home-town girl from a...